Broad beans

Hi folks. I have not grown BBs for a couple of years now but prior to that grew them regularly and rotated crops as much as I could. The beans and leaves developed a rust colour which looked pretty grim. Basdically what was I doing wrong and can anyone suggest a remedy?
Cheers,
John

 

Thanks for that MF. I'll have a look now.

 

Great picture John, I wish I was that tidy in my garden!

 

Thanks Claire. It doesn't stay like that for long!!

 

Hi MF and thanks again. The pictures don't seem to match the condition. I did get an email off Claire though and she mentioned about rust. So I did a little research and lo and behold! It turns out to be a rust coloured fungal infection. I looked it up threough the RHS online site.

 

Honesty compels me to add that if this is indeed what it was, it was a lucky guess rather than me knowing what I was talking about in any way!
Hope that helps you sort it out though John :D

 

You cant beat the RHS website for help on these matters.

Def worth bookmarking their site .

 

Thanks to you all for your help. Even if Claires was a lucky guess, it worked and yes the RHS is a very useful site. Thanks again Claire.

 

Question:
My broad beans are covered in ants at the moment. Will this cause any lasting problems?

 

Not too sure octarine. Wouldn't have thought they'd be too beneficial though. I seem to have ants on the path outside the greenhouse at the moment. Think I'll track down the nest and get some nippon at the ready.

 

Good question Oktarine, I have lots of ants and woodlice too, but no idea whether they cause much damage. Will be keeping an eye out for answers from someone who does know!